Sunday 13 March 2011

It was Sunday, under the sign of Pisces. The US president was Barack Obama (Democratic). In that special week of March people in US were listening to Born This Way by Lady GaGa.
Detention, directed by Joseph Kahn, was one of the most viewed movies released in 2011
while Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult was one of the best selling books.But much more happened that day: find out below..

Donald Elmer, the Chief Executive of a small U.S.–based pharmaceutical company, Koronis, said that he is looking to raise money through London's Alternative Investment Market, thus enabling the next stage of clinical tests for his company's anti-HIV product, KP-1461. (Reuters)

2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami

Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant: A state of emergency is declared by the Tohoku Electric Power Company. The alert was declared as radioactivity readings exceeding allowed levels in the area surrounding the plant although this later returns to normal. (BBC)

Cooling systems fail at three reactors in the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant following Friday's earthquake

The death toll is expected to exceed 10,000. (''Malaysia Star'')

The Government of Japan evacuates over 200,000 people as fear of nuclear contamination from the power plants grow. (''New York Times'')

The United States Navy ships arrive to assist with relief efforts. (CNN)

The Japan Meteorological Agency upgrades the magnitude of the earthquake to 9.0. (AP via WKBT)

2011 Canterbury earthquake

Bob Parker, the mayor of the New Zealand city of Christchurch, estimates that the city centre is still ampquotvery, very dangerousampquot with up to a third of the buildings needing to be demolished. (TV New Zealand)

The Shinmoedake volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan explodes again. (Times of South Africa)

A wind and rainstorm in the Pacific Northwest of the United States results in the loss of power to 114,000 in Portland, Oregon. (KATU)

West Bank

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns the Palestinian Itamar attack that stabbed and murdered an Israeli family of five. (Ynetnews)

Israel approves the construction of hundreds of homes for Israeli settlers in the West Bank in response to a Palestinian attack. (JTA)

Two Chinese dissidents Xu Wei, a former reporter, and Jin Haike, a writer, are released from prison after serving a ten–year sentence. (''Washington Post'')

Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show ...

When single attorney Steven Creed becomes guardian of an orphaned five-year-old boy, he trades his big-city law firm for a ranch near his McKettrick kin in the close-knit community of Stone Creek, Arizona.